Saudi-based Pan Gulf Holding has announced it is in the process of launching three major industrial projects in collaboration with international companies as part of its ongoing expansion and restructuring strategy.

The new projects will be set up at an investment of $264 million with the aim of “nationalising” products that currently are being imported into Saudi Arabia, said Pan Gulf administration director Safar Al-Qahtani.The official asserted other new companies would be acquired in course of time but there were no plans to divest shares in existing companies.Saudi Pan Gulf Trading Company was converted into a holding company last April following “massive expansion” seen over the past couple of years.“All the existing divisions are in the process of being converted into independent companies and the administrative, human resources and corporate functions are being centralised to streamline operations,” Al-Qahtani said. “Our Industrial Systems already has a branch in Bahrain and the new Pan Gulf branch there will be focused on consulting services for welding solutions and trading,” said Al-Qahtani. “The holding company is aggressively moving towards the realisation of the mission of the company as per the vision of its stakeholders. Our continuing success is fostering exponential growth not only in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the bordering countries but also globally. “Establishing points of presence around our home base will not only facilitate us in the sprawling domains of our existing operations, but will also help us to serve our potential customers in new markets with the same integrity and quality of professional service,” the official added. Discussing other aspects of his responsibilities, Al-Qahtani said Pan Gulf had established various career development programmes to provide continuous development and training for staff in line with business needs“Pan Gulf operates a quality management system accredited by TÜV CERT in accordance with ISO 9001:2000 and IS0 14001 to ensure that business is conducted in a safe, customer-focused and cost-effective manner. The system helps us ensure continuous improvement in our service. Accordingly, our overall aims, objectives and targets are reviewed annually and documented,” he commented.“Our Human Resource Department is also in close coordination with the Human Resource Development Fund of Saudi Arabia to help in the training and hiring of Saudi nationals.“Being a Saudi Company we feel that we have a very big commitment towards the people of Saudi Arabia. As a priority, we effectively search for suitable Saudi candidates to hire for any openings that arise within our group. Furthermore we extensively train existing Saudi employees to help them pursue their next career level.“We also offer added incentives to the Saudi employees such as Marriage awards and Stop Smoking awards and support them in getting scholarships.”Around 1,200 employees work directly under Pan Gulf. The percentage of the Saudi staff varies according to the holding’s individual companys’ needs and qualifications but generally it stays between 15 and 40 per cent while in higher management 40 per cent of the staff are Saudi, said Al-Qahtani.

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